City News & Updates
Krauskopf, Kevin
ABOVE: Atlas Construction employees excavate limestone and bedrock from a more than 20-foot-deep trench in the Tipton and Lafontaine Street intersection.
Posted Friday, August 23, 2024.
Sewer line installation will turn east on Tipton Street in the coming week as work continues on the City’s Long-Term Control Plan. The federally mandated project aims to keep local rivers cleaner and safer by separating wastewater and stormwater in the City’s century-old combined sewer system.
In the sewer system's original design, wastewater and stormwater flowed through the same pipes to the treatment facility. Wastewater would sometimes overflow through outfall pipes directly into local waterways during heavy rainfall or snowmelt. These events are known as combined sewer overflows.
Through an agreed order with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management and to comply with federal pollution control regulations, the City of Huntington instituted a nine-phase Long-Term Control Plan to install new sewer interceptors and separate the combined sewer system. The first phase's construction started back in 2012, and the final phases are now in progress.
This summer's construction has primarily centered on the stretch of Lafontaine Street between State and Tipton streets. The tedious work has involved excavating deep trenches through heavy limestone and bedrock to reach the necessary depth for the new sewer interceptor.
With sewer installation nearing completion on Lafontaine Street, the construction route will soon veer east on Tipton Street toward Division Street.
Street grading, the next step in rebuilding and ultimately reopening Lafontaine Street, will begin taking place shortly between West Park Drive and State Street.
Full street and sidewalk reconstruction will ultimately be completed along the entire construction route.